Take a Chance on happiness
by Belle1228
Summary: What happens when Ranger receives an invitation to Stephanie and Joe's wedding? Don't let happiness depend on something you may lose. COMPLETE
1. An invitation

Chapter One

RPOV

Did you ever have one of those days that you think couldn't possibly get worse, yet some how, some way it does. Today has been one of those days. Our "redecorating" job down on Stark Street ended with Zip having to go to the hospital to get stitches. A break in happened in one of our biggest clients house, and the only person that was there was the irrational wife who swears she will take me for all I'm worth because my company is the reason her house got broken into. It couldn't possibly be the fact that the woman was so dense that she left her keys hanging in the door and forgot to turn on the alarm that caused this. Nope, never, it was my fault.

Now as I sift through my mail I see the one thing I was hoping I would never see in my life, an invitation to Stephanie and Joe's wedding. I love Steph with all my heart, but I never felt that I could give her everything that she wanted or needed. I'm not exactly relationship material, I mean what normal guy goes around carrying two guns and a knife on a daily basis? Steph needs to be with someone that can protect her, give her a nice home, a dog, kids, the normalcy that her life seems to lack. That cannot be me, I don't do normal, I'm not domestic.

As I look at the envelope I debate whether I should open it and look at the invitation or just throw it away and try to move on with what I have left in my empty life. Curiosity gets the best of me and I decide that I'm going to open it up. Babe has been avoiding me since she said yes to Joe, so I doubt I should even go to this whole thing. I honestly feel like I would rather eat glass than see my Babe, the other part of my heart, go to someone else.

I open the envelope and instead of an invitation I find a letter with Babe's beautiful handwriting.

**_ Ranger,_**

**_ I know that I've been avoiding you lately, and for that I am truly sorry. I'm just trying to get everything sorted in my brain so I can move on to the next step in my life. This is probably the hardest thing I have ever done, and I'm scared out of my mind._**

**_ As I lay in bed at night I cannot wrap my brain around being married to Joe. I feel like I'm losing my true identity with each day that passes. I've quit working for Vinnie, I don't see the girls anymore, and most of all I don't see you and the guys. I miss my old life, but most of all I miss you._**

**_ I know that you think that you are broken, but you're not. You are a kind hearted guy who has decided to close their life off from the things that could potentially make them happy. I know it seems kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, but it's the truth. I've loved you for many years, you have been everything to me from a mentor, teacher, lover, friend, and foe. I wish you happiness in all parts of life, and I hope that you decide to take a chance in life and do something that makes you happy and not worry about the consequences for once. _**

**_Love always,_**

**_Babe_**

I read the letter at least twenty times before I decided what I needed to do. I grabbed the keys to the Turbo and headed down to the garage. I drove to Babe's apartment and scanned the parking lot for Morelli's SUV but it's not there. I take the stairs to Steph's apartment and quietly open the door. Babe is laying on her bed in her "thinking position". I sit down my chair and look around the room. I notice that she is not wearing her engagement ring. Maybe she took it off when she laid down. I sit there for a few minutes before I hear movement and Steph holds her up and looks at me.

"Holy crap Batman! What are you doing here?" She says as she sits up fully.

"Taking a chance on happiness, hoping it doesn't backfire on me."

In two short strides I make it to the bed and take her into my arms. I kiss her deeply and just stare at her for the longest time.

"Not that I'm complaining, but kissing me is taking a chance?" she said when she finally finds her voice again.

"No this is," I pull a diamond ring out of my pocket that belonged to my Abulea Rosa. "My Abulea Rosa gave me this ring and told me to give it to the woman that held the other part of my heart when I found her. Well I found the other part of my heart in a diner about 4 years ago, and it changed my life forever. I want to be happy, I want to make you happy, and I want our someday. Babe will you marry me?"

**Next Chapter will be Steph's POV


	2. Happiness times two

Chapter 2

Steph POV

I must be in a sugar induced coma because I believe the words someday and marriage just came out of Ranger's mouth. Mr. I don't do stupid things like marriage and kids. As I sit there trying to digest the words that just came out of Ranger's mouth he gets this horrified look on his face right before he slams down his blank face.

"Ranger, don't shut down on me. It's just taking me a minute to digest what came out of your mouth. After the day I had today, this is honestly the last thing I expected to happen."

I sat there just staring at Ranger, waiting for him to speak. After five minutes I decided to speak and tell him what was going on in my head.

"Ranger, I went to the doctor today and found out that I'm pregnant. Actually around 12 weeks along." I was praying he was doing the math in his head and I wouldn't have to come out and say it. "I went and told Joe and he was excited at first then when we sat down and talked he came to the conclusion that I got pregnant when we were in the off portion of our relationship. We screamed, we yelled, I cried, then I realized how unhealthy of a relationship we had and I started to have a panic attack. At that point Joe actually had enough nerve to call me a drama queen and asked for the engagement ring back."

Ranger sat there listening, anger flicked across his face as I continued my story.

"I took the ring off and threw it at him. Unfortunately Bob went running after the ring and ate it before Joe could get to it. At that point I had calmed down enough that I grabbed my keys and left. I came home and laid down on the bed, and that brings us back to the present, or almost the present before you decided to come in here and scare the living crap out of me during my sleep."

Realization finally hit Ranger after he finished processing my story. The baby was his. He put his hand to my stomach and started rubbing in circles. I swear the smile on his face could have lit up all of New York.

"There is a mini Babe in there? A little mini you and me?" Ranger said as he kissed my stomach.

"Yes, hopefully more of a mini you than a mini me, then maybe it won't be a magnet for trouble" I said as I repositioned myself on the bed and grabbed Ranger's hand. "Now to answer your question, I will marry you but I want to make sure you're marrying me because you want me and not because you feel obligated."

"Babe, I have never felt obligated to do anything when it came to you. I came here tonight to try to find my happiness only to find out my happiness has been multiplied. Pretty soon I will have a beautiful wife and another beautiful child. What more could I ask for?"

Ranger put the ring on my finger and kissed my knuckles. He smiled and said "Now you know what we need to do? Tell everyone!"

"NO! Susan Miles daughter doesn't give a ring back to her fiancée, find out she's having a child, and get engaged to another man all in the same day! Are you trying to put my mother into an early grave?" I said, feeling panic run through my body again.

"Babe, calm down. Breathe. Eventually they are going to have to know, the sooner the better. Plus you need to meet the Manoso family and we need to tell everyone at Rangeman. It's getting late, why don't we order some Chinese and watch a movie, we'll make plans to go talk to everyone tomorrow. Sound good?" Ranger said as he kissed the top of my head.

"Okay Batman, deal."

**Next chapter is a visit to Rangeman


	3. Breakfast to go and Rangeman

**Not mine, not making any money.

Chapter 3

RPOV

I turn off my alarm on my watch at 6am. I figured I'd let Babe sleep a little longer so I got up and went to grab a quick shower and get dressed. After that I headed out to get some breakfast for us both. I pulled into the diner and make my way to the counter to place my to go order. As I sit there and wait I see a blue SUV pull into the space next to the Turbo. Freakin' Morelli.

Morelli comes in and takes the seat next to me at the counter.

"I guess you heard Steph and I broke up?" he said as the waitress passed him a cup of coffee.

"She told me last night," I put up my blank face and turn towards him.

"Well don't bother getting involved with her, she obviously had someone else on the side and now she's going to have a bastard child with the poor idiot."

Anger takes over as I stare at Morelli. I always took him for a smart person, I guess today was the exception to that.

"Morelli, you should watch what you say to people. That bastard child you are referring to is MY child and Stephanie has also agreed to marry me as well."

"What! That slut, she told me she had never slept with you. You know what, you can have her she's not worth half the trouble she causes. You just better hope that when that baby comes out it looks like you, because if she was sleeping around on me she was probably doing the same with you."

I had heard enough and turned around and punched Morelli right in the eye. He hit the ground like a ton of bricks. I grabbed the to go bag off the counter and left the waitress a tip as I headed out the door. The way the past few days have been, I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. I just hope everyone else takes the news better than Morelli did.

SPOV

I woke up and couldn't find Ranger. I pulled my robe on and started searching the apartment. As I made my way to the kitchen the locks tumbled on the dead bolt and Ranger walked in with breakfast. We make our way to the couch and he hands me a box of food and a carton of orange juice.

"If I open this box I'm not going to find twigs and bark am I?" I said as I eyed the box.

"No, it's an omelet with cheese, ham, and veggies. You'll never guess who I ran into at the diner Babe."

"Who?"

"Morelli, and he proceed to tell me all about you guys breaking up and how you had someone on the side and were having the poor idiots bastard child."

"He did what! I'll kill him." I put my food on the coffee table and turned towards Ranger, "What did you say to him? He's not in some third world country is he?"

"No, I try not to do that too often, it really takes a lot of time and resources that can be used elsewhere in Rangeman. I told him that he needed to watch out who's child he called a bastard, told him about our engagement, and punched him in the eye. I left the waitress a tip and left him laying there on the floor of the diner." Ranger said as he finished up his egg white omelet.

"Maybe I'm stupid but I thought he had figured out it was your child. It really shows what low of an opinion he has of me if he thinks I have numerous guys on the side, jeez. We need to make this trip to Rangeman short this morning, because as soon as Morelli tells his Mom about this my Mom will know I'm pregnant within 2 minutes. I have to tell her first." I finished up my omelet and went to go get a quick shower and get ready.

As I stepped out of the bathroom I saw Ranger sitting on my bed waiting. I quickly got dressed, I picked out a navy blue dress that was empire waist and flowed away from my stomach. I hadn't started showing, but I did look like I had gained a few pounds. I ran some gel through my hair and pulled the top part up in a twist and left the bottom part down. Ranger handed me my silver sandals and we headed out the door. As we got in the elevator Ranger pinned me against the wall and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I said as I tried to regain control of my breathing.

"Just because, I love you and you look beautiful. Even more beautiful knowing you are carrying our child. Dios! It's crazy how much I love you and how happy you've made me in the past 24 hours." Ranger grabbed my hand as we exited the elevator and opened the door to the turbo.

The car ride to Rangeman was quiet. Ranger was in his zone and I was trying to figure out how I was going to tell my Mom about the past 24 hours and just hoping that Angie Morelli didn't get to her before I did. Before I realized it Ranger pulled the turbo into his spot in the garage and was opening the door for me. We got in the elevator and he pushed the button for 5. As we got off Bobby and Lester were working monitors.

"Bomber, long time no see!" Bobby said as he hugged me, "We've missed you!"

"Yeah Beautiful, come give me some love!" Lester said then he grabbed my left hand, "Beautiful that's not the ring Joe gave you, that is Abuela Rosa's ring. What is going on?"

"Bobby call Tank tell him to get out here now we have some news to share with everyone." Ranger said.

Tank came out of his office a few minutes later and Ranger led us all into his office. He proceeded to tell them about Morelli and I calling off our engagement, how he punched him in the eye this morning at the diner. Then I told them that Ranger and I were engaged and that I found out yesterday that I was pregnant and that it was Ranger's.

"I'm so happy for you guys, how far along are you Bomber?" Bobby asked.

"Around 12 weeks, I didn't even know I was pregnant. You guys cannot say a word to anyone until we have a chance to tell our families. Lester that means keep your big mouth shut and don't tell your family until we talk to them!" I said and Lester nodded his head.

Everyone left the office and Ranger and I sat there for a few minutes talking before I told him we had one more person here in the building we needed to tell before we headed to my parents. We got back on the elevator and headed for the 6th floor. I knocked on Ella and Louis' door and waiting for Ella to answer.

"Stephanie! How great to see you, I've missed you so much, please come in." Ella said as she answered the door.

"Well Tia Ella we have some news that we'd like to share with you and Tio Louis." Ranger said as we sat down.

"Well go ahead we're listening." Louis said as he made his way to the living room.

"Last night Stephanie agreed to marry me, and she also informed me she is pregnant. We're having a baby!" Ranger said as a huge smile spread across his beautiful face. I swear I've never seen this man smile as much as he has in the past 24 hours.

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for both of you! I will help you with anything you need, any cravings you're having let me know I'll be more than happy to cook anything for you. " Ella said as she hugged both of us. I can only hope that my Mom will be half as receptive as Ella was.

After spending another 10 minutes with Ella and Louis we got in the car and headed towards the Burg, and that is when panic set in. I can't go through with this, maybe once I have the baby and child is like 10 I can introduce it to my Mom. Then maybe there will be a bigger scandal in the Burg and Mom won't feel so disgraced.

"I smell smoke Babe, talk to me" Ranger said as he turned down my parents street.

"I'm just thinking about how much I don't want to do this. Maybe we shouldn't tell my parents, lets turn around to Newark and go tell your parents." I said as I started wringing my hands together.

"Babe, we have to tell you parents. The sooner the better, plus you never know your Mom maybe happy for you. Happy that you're getting married and having a baby."

"Yeah right Batman, my Mom is going to be thrilled about this news and monkeys fly out my ass too!" I said.

Ranger shot me an amused look as he got out of the car and rounded it to open my door. Here goes nothing.

**Next chapter, Lunch with the Plum's


	4. Lunch at the Plum's

Chapter 4

SPOV

Remember when you were a kid and you did something bad and you were just waiting on your parents to find out and punish you? I have that same feeling right now even though I'm in my 30's and I'm about to have a child myself. Am I absolutely crazy, if I'm afraid of my own mother and still feel like a child about to be punished how am I going to be a mother to my own child? Ranger interrupted my thoughts by putting his hand on the small of my back and leading me up the driveway. I think he was pushing me more than just showing support, honestly I think he was afraid I was going to bolt, and let me tell you that seemed like a good option right about now. I look around trying to plot my escape when I realize that I've already walked into the house and now am standing in front of my parents and Grandma. Ah, crap! I really do need to learn to be more aware of my surroundings.

"Stephanie do you care to explain to me what is going on? I just heard from Angie Morelli that Joseph has a black eye and that she was taking Bob to the vet to have your engagement ring removed from his stomach." My mother says.

"Yeah Steph, and what are you doing here with the package?" Grandma asks.

I look to Ranger for support and realize he's not there, how the heck did he manage an escape? Also, Daddy is gone as well. They left me out here to the firing squad, I will kill them. It will be slow and painful.

"Stephanie answer me, and where did you get the ring on your finger if your ring is in Bob's stomach?" Mom yelled pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I will explain to you what is going on but you will sit down and let me talk, you interrupt me and I will leave. Understand?" I said with authority, it almost sounded like a Mom voice.

"Stephanie you will not talk to me like that! I am your mother and you will treat me with respect!" My mother says.

"You're right Mom, you are my mother and I should treat you with respect, but I am your daughter and realize that knife cuts both ways. You need to treat me with respect or you won't see me anymore. Now lets go sit down and I'll tell you what is going on."

"You heard the girl Helen, lets go to the kitchen." Grandma says as we head to the dining room.

"Yesterday Joe and I called off our engagement. I threw the ring at him and Bob ate it. I went to the doctor and found out that I was pregnant, 12 weeks along and didn't realize it. When Joe starting doing the math he figured out that he was out of town during that time. I came home and Ranger came by to talk to me, and told me how much he loved me and wanted to marry me. I said I would marry him then told him about the baby. He was over the moon, he's excited about being a Dad again. He ran into Morelli this morning and Morelli called me a slut and said that I was pregnant with a bastard child. Ranger gave him a black eye for the comments he said. I think that about covers the past 24 hours. Any questions?"

My mother had a dumfounded look on her face and Grandma was grinning ear to ear. I've always loved putting that dumfounded look on my mother's face, I just hope my child doesn't do the same thing to me. Don't they say that your children are ten times worse than you are? Between me and Ranger that child doesn't have a chance. As my mother starts to open her mouth my Dad and Ranger come and sit down at the kitchen table and my Dad says something that I never expected to come out of his mouth.

"Well, Pumpkin I'm happy for you. You and Carlos will be happy together and your baby will beautiful. That's all a parent wants for their child is for them to be happy and I feel like you've found your happiness. Helen you can either be happy for Stephanie or you can shut your mouth. You and I both know Morelli wasn't good for her. This is a joyous occasion we're getting another grandchild, hopefully a grandson."

"Let me go get the stuff for lunch, we're having roast beef sandwiches and lemonade," Helen said as she went to the kitchen.

I guess that was better than Mom's usual why me speech. I'm surprised that Daddy said that much and shut her down like that. I look at Ranger and he is talking with my Dad. Grandma leans over and kisses me cheek as she passes by to go to the kitchen to help Mom. Man these past two days have been weird, maybe it's something in the water. I think until we figure it out I'm going to stick to bottled water.

RPOV

As we stepped in the house I gave Frank a look and nodded towards the garage. We both slipped out of the living room undetected. I felt bad for leaving Babe in there with her Mom, but I really needed to talk to Frank alone.

"I know that I should have asked permission to marry your daughter before I actually proposed, but I hope that you will still give us your blessing." I said.

"So she's not going to marry Morelli?" Frank asked.

"No, well at least I hope not." I said with a chuckle.

"You have my blessing, you have never tried to change Stephanie and that is the main reason I've always liked you. She is not what the world expects her to be, and instead of trying to change her into that you help her find her place in the world. I've watched her for the past few weeks since she said yes to Morelli and I see less and less of her personality coming through. It's sad, I saw the same thing when she married Dickie and she was finally getting some of herself back before she agreed to marry Morelli. Keep my pumpkin happy and you will always have my blessing. Welcome to the family son, watch out for my crazy mother in law though." Frank said and finished off with a handshake.

"Well there is some other news, and since Stephanie is probably telling the ladies right now I should tell you. She's pregnant, we're having a baby. That was the reason for the big blow up between Joe and her. He figured out the baby wasn't his, that is also the reason he has a black eye. He told me this morning that she was slut who was having a bastard child." I said as Frank winced.

"Well congratulations! I hope I finally get a grandson. Now we need to get in there and save Stephanie from her Mom." Frank said as he headed for the door. "One more thing Ranger."

"Yeah" I said.

"Good job on the black eye, he deserved much more." Frank said as he smiled.

We walked in and Frank congratulated us and Helen went to get lunch. Babe was quiet through out most of lunch but I could tell some of the tension had left her body. About and hour later we left and headed back to Rangeman. One the way back Babe finally broke her silence.

"Well that went better than I expected." Babe said.

"Yeah and your grandma was even on her best behavior. I was impressed. Your Mom will come around, give her some time. Your Dad is thrilled with the whole situation. I don't know what he's happier about, you and I getting married or the baby." I said as I pulled into the garage.

"Well Daddy has always been on my side with most things, but he usually doesn't tell Mom to shut it like that. I was kind of shocked. Please promise me something Ranger."

"Anything Babe"

"If I ever become like my Mom with our kid that you'll tell me to put a sock in it!"

"I promise Babe. Now lets get you a nap and I'm going to call my parents to make arrangements for dinner tonight."

"Sounds like a plan. I love you Carlos"

"What did you say?"

"Sounds like a plan." Babe said confused.

"No, after that" I said.

"I love you Carlos?" she said.

"I love you too Babe, I love when you call me Carlos."

**Dinner with the Manoso's next chapter


	5. Dinner with the Manoso's

**_**Not mine, not making any money. All JE's characters._**

**_**Also, a side note people were saying I was too hard to Helen. First off I took the angle of her just shutting her mouth, I could have made it quite a bit worse. I understand respect goes both ways, but Helen doesn't show any to Stephanie and really hasn't ever done so. Everything is about her and her reputation in the Burg. I could have made her into a horrible villain and had Ranger, Frank, and Edna all yell at her, but I decided to have them sit through lunch and Helen not really say anything. Eventually I will have interaction between Steph and Helen, but don't expect Helen to be a complete angel either. She is still Helen Plum after all and she still cares about her standing in the Burg**_**

Chapter 5

RPOV

"Go get in the bed Babe, I'll call my parents and make arrangements for them to come here for dinner." I followed her to the bedroom and made sure she changed and got under the covers.

"You Mom isn't going to hate me because I'm not cooking dinner is she? I think she'd hate me more if I gave them food poisoning. Wait, she's not going to hate me because I can't cook, she's going to hate me because I'm a slut who was engaged to another man when she found out she was pregnant." I silenced Babe with a deep kiss and waiting for her to calm down before I started talking.

"My parents are going to love you because I love you, and if they don't I honestly don't care. I love you and I love our child that is going inside of you. As long as you love me, that's all that I care about. Your opinion is the only one that matters." I said as I tucked her back into bed.

"Deep thoughts there Batman, I love you too. That nap does sound pretty good," She said as she yawned.

I grabbed my phone and headed towards my office. Babe was asleep before I got the door fully shut.

"Hola Momma"

"Hola Carlos, what's up? I know you didn't just call me to see how my flower garden is doing, so just spit it out.

"Are you and Dad busy tonight? Can you come out here for dinner?"

"We can be there around 6, why?"  
"Well Mom, Stephanie and I have some news for you and we'd like to share it with you over dinner."

"Stephanie is going to be there? What is going on? I've been asking to meet Stephanie since the first time you mentioned her 4 years ago and now you're asking me to come to your apartment and meet her because the two of you have news?"

"Yes Mom, we have news and I will see you at 6. I hate to cut this short but I have another call coming through Momma. See you tonight, love you."

I hung up the phone to see Babe standing in the doorway of my office with an amused look on her face.

"And here I thought I was the only one that was afraid of my mother. Big Bad Ranger Manoso just faked another call to get off the phone with his mother just so he didn't have to answer any more of her questions," by this point Babe has a huge smile on her face. She is probably the only person in the world who could get away with making fun of me.

Stephanie came over and sat down in my lap at the computer desk and said she had a surprise for me. The way she was moving in my lap while she was typing on the computer was about to give her a big surprise. The one of the most beautiful things in the world popped up on my computer screen.

"Dad, Steph?"

"Hey Julie! I just set up Skype on your Dad's computer. We had some news we wanted to share with you." Stephanie said.

"Hey Jules, I miss you baby. I asked Stephanie to marry me and she said yes." I said.

"That's great! I always knew you two would eventually get together. Do I get to come in for the wedding?" Julie asked.

"If we have a big wedding we will see if you can. If we don't how would you like to come in to meet your new brother or sister? I'm pregnant!" Stephanie asked.

"A wedding and a baby, wow Dad you move fast." Julie said.

"Yeah I guess we did, tell your Mom I'll call her later with details and see about you making a visit." I said.

"I will, Mom is telling me to come help her in the kitchen. I love you Steph, I love you Dad, bye!" Julie said as she shut down skype.

"How did you know how to do that Babe?" I asked.

"I've been talking to Julie on Skype for the past three months and also on Instant Messaging. I figured you'd want to tell her our news, and seeing her reaction on the screen is so much better than just telling her over the phone." Stephanie said as she got up and headed for the living room.

SPOV

It was 10 minutes till 6 and I was a nervous wreck. I wanted Ranger, I mean Carlos' parents to like me. He told me that no one in his family calls him Ranger and that everyone calls him Carlos. At 5 till 6 the control room called and said they were on their way up. Dinner was already on the table, Ella really out did herself with a chicken and rice casserole, homemade rolls, and a pie for dessert.

"Mom, Dad, this is Stephanie" Carlos said taking me out of my daydreams.

"Very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Manoso" I said as I hugged both of them.

"Please my name is Maria and this is Ricardo, no needs for formality. I feel like we've known you for the past 4 years." Maria said as she looked at my engagement ring.

"Carlos is there something you wanted to tell me," as she waved my hand in his face.

"I asked Stephanie to marry me, and she said yes. After I asked her to marry me she confessed to me she had been to the doctor earlier that day and found out she was 12 weeks pregnant with our child." Carlos said as we all sat down to eat.

"Son, I'm happy for you. If you're happy then I'm happy. I can't wait to have another grandchild to spoil." Ricardo said as he sipped on his wine.

"Well if you two had been dating all that time why haven't we met her before now? Are you ashamed of us Carlos?" Maria asked.

"Let me answer that," I began before Carlos could open his mouth, "I hope you don't think less of me after this, but this is how everything happened. I have been in love with your son for years, but I didn't feel like he would even settle down with me so I agreed to marry my on again/off again boyfriend Joe. When I found out I was pregnant I talked to Joe about it and he figure out it couldn't be his because we were not together during that time, so we broke our engagement off. Carlos came to me that same night, not knowing about the events that happened earlier that day and asked me to take a chance on happiness and marry him, to do what my heart wanted. I said yes, then told him about the baby and he was overjoyed about getting the chance to be a real father with this child. I know its not the ideal situation, and I can't say I'd be real happy if this was my child who was going through this, but I do love Carlos with all my heart and will spend the rest of my life making him just as happy as he's made me."

"Babe" and he leaned down and kissed me.

"Things happen in life that we wish could have happened a little differently. The best thing to look at is the outcome and where it brings you. The outcome of the situation has brought you two together and is bringing a child into this world. What more could you ask for?" Maria said as we finished up dinner.

The rest of the night was nice. We all talked until I started yawning, then Maria and Ricardo insisted it was time for them to head back to Newark. We made our way to the bedroom and I changed into one of Ranger's shirts and went to get into the bed. Ranger stripped down and got into the bed, I may have been tired but that is a site I will never be too tired to see. Ranger pulled me close to him and put his arms around me and put one hand on my stomach. I laid there for a few minutes and started to hear his breathing even out, before he fell asleep I heard him mumble "I love you babes". I kiss his arm and fell asleep.

**Next chapter is working on living and working arrangements.


	6. Living and work arrangements

Chapter 6

RPOV

I woke up around 8am and Babe was still sound asleep. I planned on spending the whole day with her, she didn't realize I was offline until tomorrow morning. I quietly got up and threw on a pair of black silk pajama bottoms and went to the kitchen to call Ella. I asked her to make a breakfast casserole and hide as many veggies in it as possible, some fresh fruit, and some orange juice. She said she'd have it upstairs in about an hour. I called Tank and reminded him I am not to be bothered today unless it's a life or death matter, and told him to pass the message along to the rest of the core team.

Around 9 Ella brought a cart through with the food and set it up on the breakfast bar. She also brought me some pregnancy blend coffee reminding me that Steph could not drink the regular stuff, and told me to try to keep her from putting too much sugar into this coffee. I just laughed and told her I would try. I poured a cup of coffee and a cup of orange juice for each of us and went to go get Babe up.

"Good morning Babe," I said as I kissed her on the head.

"Good morning Ranger, not that I'm complaining but what are you doing here?" she asked, "Don't you have to work today?"

"No, I'm offline until tomorrow morning. Why don't you go get your robe and meet me at the breakfast bar so we can eat?" I said as I helped her up and scooted her towards the bathroom.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few." She said as she went to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later we were sitting at the bar eating. I was glad to see that Steph wasn't having trouble eating, and didn't seem to be getting sick. I guess not knowing she was pregnant for the first couple of months she didn't really get morning sickness.

"So what's the plan for today Batman?" she said as she ate the last bite of her casserole and finished off her juice.

"Well I figured we'd talk first then I thought we could take a drive out to the beach. It's still too cold to get into the water, but we can walk down the boardwalk and spend the day together." I said as I took the dishes and put them in the sink.

"Talk? You want to talk. Who are you and where is the real Ranger? I've heard you say more in the past 2 days than I have in the past 4 years and now you want to talk more? Are you sure you're not a chick trapped in a guys body?" She said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes and picked her up from the stool and took her to the couch. I sat down and put her on my lap and covered us in a cover before I leaned back. She tilted her head back and gave me a kiss in the lips.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" She asked.

"Well we need to talk about living and working arrangements. I don't expect you to sit at home for the next 6 months, but I don't want to have to worry about you and our child being in danger all the time either. Plus I want to talk to you about where you wanted to live." I said as I adjusted her in my lap so I could see her face.

"I've been thinking a lot about that too. I've made a couple of decisions already. I think we should live together, in my apartment. I'm going to talk to Vinnie about getting my job back, but I'm going to go as back up to Lula. I mean she's got her gun with her most of the time, so how much trouble can I get into as her backup? Also, I'm going to talk to my Mom and Grandma about giving me cooking lessons so I can cook dinner a couple of times a week for us, that way you won't miss Ella when you move into my apartment." Steph said as she looked to me for some sort of an answer.

SPOV

I know I was baiting the tiger, but goodness it was way too much fun. The look on Ranger's face was priceless, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up without busting out laughing. I can just imagine the images of me running around 8 months pregnant after skips with Lula going through his head. The two of us living in my apartment eating food cover in gravy every night was just too much. The temple is crumbling just thinking about all that extra fat on a daily basis. I had enough and just burst out laughing.

"Dios! Woman you are going to be the death of me, please tell me you're joking!" Ranger said. If I didn't know any better I would think that Ranger was scared I was going to tell him no.

"Yes I'm joking, I'm not a complete idiot. I would like to live here with you, after we're married. I do not want to sit around in the ivory tower all day, so if you and the guys can find me something constructive to do with my time at Rangeman I will be more than happy to do that for the next 6 months. If I was going to ask anyone to teach me to cook it would be Ella so you would actually enjoy my cooking. Also, I want to talk to Bobby about finding me an exercise plan to do while I'm pregnant, I don't want to end up like Val did." I said.

"That sounds like a plan. On the topic of the wedding, do you want a big wedding or a small wedding?" Ranger asked.

"Honestly I don't want a wedding, I want a marriage. I want to be your wife and the mother to your child." I said as I leaned back against Ranger's chest.

"Well how about we go to the little wedding chapel in Point Pleasant today? Start our lives together as husband and wife. I don't see a reason to wait." Ranger said as he kissed my head.

"I agree, lets get ready Batman. I'm going to call Ella up here to help me get ready." I said as I jumped off Ranger's lap.

It's amazing how much your life can change in such a short amount of time. At this time last week I was miserable trying to figure out how to get out of getting married to Joe. Now a week later I am racing to the alter ready to become Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Manoso. I'm ready to start this new chapter of my life, to me a wife and a mother. I read a quote last week talking about love that said if you fall in love with two people, pick the second one because you obviously didn't love the first one. Even though I met Ranger second he would always be my first and only choice over Joe.

**Next Chapter Wedding


	7. The wedding

Chapter 7

SPOV

We decided to take Ella and Louis with us to Point Pleasant for the wedding. They rode with us and we split up when we got the chapel. Ranger went to take care of getting all the paperwork straight, the wedding bands, and we decided not to go overly dressy for the wedding. I had a white sleeveless dress that had a high waist and went to the floor. The way it flowed you couldn't tell I was pregnant, I paired it was a pair of open toed 2 inch heels. Ella fixed my hair into an elegant twist and put a beautiful red rose in the side of it. As she was finishing my hair there was a knock on the dressing room door. Ella went and opened it up and in walked my Mother.

"Stephanie you look beautiful" she said as she sat down in the car across from me.

"What are you doing here Mom? This was just going to be a small wedding just me and Ranger." I asked.

"Carlos called me and asked that we all come. Your Daddy and Grandma are in the main room along with Carlos' parents. I just came in here to talk to you before you walked down the aisle." She said, you could tell she was nervous. "I'm glad Carlos called us because I would have hated to miss this day, it's a very important day in your life."

"This is an important day, but I'm not going to dwell on that, it's the first day of our life together. That is what means more to me, the fact that Ranger and I will be together for the rest of our lives." I said.

"I didn't say much at the house yesterday because I was truly shocked with the change in events. Everything changed in less than 24 hours and I really didn't know how to react. Even though you and I may not always agree, I hope you realize that I do love you. Just our views on what is right for you in life are completely different. All I want for you is to be happy, and if Carlos makes you happy then I'm happy for you." Mom hugged me and kissed the top of my head.

"Your Dad would love to walk you down the aisle if you will let him, I'm going to take my seat in the chapel." She said as she exited the room.

A few minutes later Daddy came and got me and we headed towards the chapel. He whispered in my ear just as he handed me to Carlos, "I love you pumpkin, I'm so proud of you".

RPOV

I hope Babe doesn't kill me for inviting our parents, but I wanted to share the happiest day of our lives with both of our families. As Babe made her way down the aisle she took my breath away. She looked so beautiful, and she was glowing with happiness. I just hope I can keep that look on her face for the rest of our lives.

We exchanged vows and when the minister got to the final part asking if anyone objected I heard a voice from the end of the aisle say "I object, you are suppose to be mine!".

SPOV

You've got to be kidding me, how the heck did Joe find out we were getting married today? I took a step back from Carlos and went towards Joe. He reeked of whiskey.

"Cupcake you are suppose to be marrying me. Once you have this child you can just give it to Manoso and we can start our own family. You know you're mine and have been since we kids." Joe said as he slurred his words.

"I am not yours Joe, that's what you don't seem to understand. I am not wearing your ring, I'm not exchanging vows with you, I'm not having you child now or ever. You need to go find some place to get some coffee and sober up and leave us alone." I said.

"I've got your ring right here, I even had it disinfected after it came out of Bob's stomach." He pulled the ring out of his pocket, as he tried to grab my hand to try to put it on my finger Grandma Mazur came up behind him and zapped him with a stun gun. He fell down like a box of rocks.

"Go get your man baby granddaughter, don't worry about him he'll be out for a while." Grandma said as she hit him again with her stun gun.

I turned around and headed back up the aisle towards Ranger. He had a huge grin on his face and grabbed my hand. The minister took a few minutes to get his composure back before he said, "Now since that's over with, if there aren't any more objections I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Ranger kissed me and spun me around. Everyone in the chapel was clapping, except Joe he was still out cold.

"I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo Manoso." The minister said after everyone calmed down.

"Everyone, lets all get in our vehicles and go have nice dinner together to celebrate this union." Ricardo said as he and Maria stood up.

"That sounds good Dad, how about the Italian restaurant out by the boardwalk. Do you know where it is Frank?" Ranger asked.

"Yes, we'll meet you over there." Frank said.

"We will ride with Ricardo and Maria and give you two a lovebirds a few minutes alone." Ella said.

"We will see everyone there." I said as we got into our SUV and headed towards the restaurant.

**Next chapter dinner with both families.


	8. Dinner with the family

Chapter 8

RPOV

"Well Babe, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting Morelli to show up and try to stop the wedding. I have to give it to your Grandma though, I loved the fact that she stunned him but I don't want to know where she got the stun gun." I said with a chuckle.

"Morelli is just lucky that Grandma zapped him before I hit him. I can't believe he was trying to put that ring back on my finger. I'm not a germaphobe but that's disgusting, it had to be dug out of Bob's stomach." Steph said with a shutter.

"Well now since that's over with why don't we go meet up with our families Mrs. Manoso." I said as I opened the door to the SUV and helped Babe out of the car.

"Sounds like a plan, this place looks nice." Steph said with a smile. "I can't believe we did it, we're an old married couple that is about to have a kid. Can you believe it?"

"Honestly no, as many bad things as I've done in my life I don't know what I did to deserve a second chance a life. I have a beautiful wife, a beautiful child on the way, and a long life ahead of me with my family." I said as I kissed Babe.

"I love you Carlos" she said as we entered the restaurant.

"I love you too Babe" I said as we found out way to the table with the rest of our family.

Dinner was nice. The women talked about the baby. Asking if we wanted a girl or a boy, if we had thought of names, and if Steph had any weird cravings yet. I talked to the guys about the expansion I wanted to do on the 7th floor penthouse. I wanted to add two more rooms, one for the new baby and one for Julie and an extra bathroom. I also wanted to redecorate the penthouse, making it more family oriented instead of a bachelor pad that wasn't personalized. Louis suggested in a few weeks taking Babe to New York for a few days and he and our Dad's would work on the renovation along with the contractor I was going to hire. They wanted to help put some personal touches to our new lives together, and who was I to say no. I graciously accepted their offer and told them to spare no expense.

Two hours later everyone loaded into their vehicles. Ella and Louis offered to ride back with Babe's parents so we could take our time getting home. We finally made it back to Rangeman 2 hours later and when we stepped off the elevator on 5 the whole floor erupted in cheers. Every guy came up and congratulated us. It was nice and I know if made Babe feel more at home. Even though she wouldn't admit it I know she afraid of what the guys would think of our quick engagement and the fact that she was pregnant. Now the only thing I was thinking about was getting my Babe up to 7 where we could be alone, after all we were newlyweds and it was our wedding night.

*Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get the dinner out of the way and get them back to Rangeman. I will be skipping a few weeks to them finding out the sex of the baby in the next chapter and going on a babymoon to New York while the renovations are happening.


	9. Pink or Blue?

Chapter 9

Six weeks later

SPOV

It's been six weeks since Ranger and I got married and it seems like everything has pretty much fallen into place. The first week we moved everything out of my apartment and cleaned the place up. Ranger put some new furnishings into the place and paid the rent for a full year and offered to move my Grandma into the apartment. If my Dad didn't already like Ranger, that would have done it for sure. Grandma loves being in my old building, everyone is her age and she's not having to hear my Mom harp on her for every little thing. The move even seemed to help my parents. They are acting more like teenagers than a couple that has been married for 40 years. Mom even convinced Dad to take Salsa lessons with her last week. For once the talk of the burg is not me, it's them and their new found spark in their marriage. I even heard that the talk around the burg made Angie Morelli get out and try dating.

Today Ranger and I are going to the doctor to find out if our child is going to be a girl or a boy. I could care less as long as the child is healthy. Being healthy hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. Bobby put me on an exercise plan that varies enough that I'm not bored. I've even been taking pregnancy yoga. Ella has been hiding all the healthy food she can when she cooks, so in my mind as long as it taste good and I'm not sure what is in it I'm okay. The pregnancy hormones are going to put Ranger into an early grave, I know that pregnant women get horny but take my hormones on a normal day, take the sugar out of my regular diet, and then add Ranger to this mix knowing I can have him anytime that I want, I swear I saw him asleep at his desk the other day even if he won't admit it.

The drive to the doctor's office was only about 10 minutes and Ranger was in his zone. We signed in and waited for my name to be called. I was so excited, we were finally going to know if it's a girl or a boy. Also, Ranger said he had a surprise for me once we left the doctors office, so between the excitement from the baby and the surprise I'm about to bounce out of my seat.

"Stephanie Manoso, you can come back please." The nurse said from the doorway.

We went through the weigh in, I've actually been able to keep my weight in check which I was worried about. All my vitals looked normal and they seated me in the room to wait for the sonogram. After around ten minutes the doctor entered the room and began to put the gel on my stomach. She took the wand and slowly glided it over my stomach, then she stopped.

"Mr. and Mrs. Manoso meet your little girl." The doctor said with a smile on her face. She said everything else looked normal, printed me a few pictures, and told me to make a follow up appointment on my way out.

We got out to the car and Ranger still hadn't said much. He just had a smile on his face. Once we both buckled in I turned to him and asked him what was on his mind.

"We're having a mini babe, a little you." He said almost in awe of his own words.

"Yep, now lets hope she's not as much trouble as I was as a child. If she decides to try to fly off the roof it's going to a lot further of a fall from the 7th story of the building." I said.

"I've been thinking about this for the past few weeks and I would like to tell you a name I came up with for our little girl." Ranger said.

"Go for it Batman, the worst I can say is I don't like it"

"Adrianna Rosa Manoso, I wanted to name her after my Abulea since she took care of me all those years, but I still wanted her to have her own identity."

"I think it's a beautiful name, if you're happy with it I am too." I said. "Now what is this surprise you have for me?"

"We're going on a little trip. Ella packed you a bag for a few days. We are going to stay in New York. We're going to see a show, do some shopping, you're going to relax and get the pregnancy package at the hotel spa, and we're going to eat. You're not going to lift a finger or worry for the next few days. I want to pamper you and our little babe." Ranger said as we hit the freeway.

RPOV

Another little girl, I couldn't believe it. Now we're off to New York to relax while everyone is working on the penthouse. The contractors promised me it would be finished in 5 days. I guess paying double time really does get things done faster. The guys were going to work on personalizing the house and Ella was going to give them a hand. My Mom and Helen were both going to work on decorating the baby's room. Hopefully Babe likes my surprise.

**Next chapter fun in New York


	10. Babymoon and Pino's Pizza

**Not mine – JE's characters just borrowing them

This chapter is for you margaret aka whymelucylu

Chapter 10

SPOV

We pulled into a bed and breakfast outside of New York City. It was absolutely breathtaking, something you would see on the cover of a magazine. When we pulled in Ranger informed me that he had rented out the whole house for the next five days. He said we didn't really have a honeymoon and this was considered a babymoon. A trip for just the two of us before the baby is born. I thought that was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard of. It's amazing how thoughtful the man of mystery really is. He said that the bed and breakfast had an amazing spa and I could get anything done in there I wanted. The lady that owned the house that did all of the cooking said that she would cook anything that I wanted and Ranger even agreed if I didn't go too crazy that he wouldn't say a word about anything that I wanted to eat.

The spa was amazing, I even got Ranger to get a massage with me. We went into the city during the day and did some shopping. We bought quite a few things for the baby, it was really cute watching big, bad, Ranger picking up little pink outfits, in his hands the clothing looked like it belonged to a Barbie doll. I bought some new maternity clothing and a few dresses I could wear around the office. Ranger even bought some clothes for Julie and had them shipped to Miami.

We ate out almost every night and Ranger actually ate like a normal person. The temple was going to need a good workout when we got home but it was nice to be out acting like a normal couple. When we're in Trenton it's hard to go out and have a normal dinner between the reputations both Ranger and I have the talk around the Berg. I really enjoyed this time with Ranger, to see the last of his walls go down and finally get to know Carlos, not just the bad ass Ranger. I was really not looking forward to this time to come to an end.

The morning of the last day we ate breakfast outside on the deck and talked about the fact that we were about to be parents. Even though Ranger was already a parent, he had just as many fears as I did. He wasn't really around when Julie was little so he never had all the first experiences, he never even got to hear Julie say Dada for the first time. It was sad to realize how much he had missed out on with Julie, but  
I was very grateful that he has a good relationship with her now, she was going to come spend some time with us during the summer. I was also happy that we were going to get to share all of these first together with our child, our daughter.

When we made it back to Trenton that afternoon I had a strong craving for Pino's. Ranger tried to tell me that we were back in Trenton and that we needed to try to start eating healthier, I told him until we pulled into Haywood we were still technically on vacation so he better pull into Pino's before he had to deal with a hormonal pregnant woman.

We took the booth in the back and I ordered a meatball sub, Ranger ordered a salad. I guess his temple knew we were back in Trenton, mine didn't care! After a few minutes I saw Joe and Terri come through the door. Freakin' A, I don't want to see him. Hopefully he won't see us.

"Hiya Cupcake." Joe said as he and Terri came up to the side of our table.

"I'm not your cupcake anymore, so don't call me that." I sneered.

"Jeez, I thought fat, pregnant women were suppose to be jolly." Joe said with an evil smile. Ranger tensed at that comment and started to comment before Joe began talking again. "I just wanted to come talk to you and tell you the news before you heard from someone else. Terri and I are getting married, after I found out you cheated on me Terri came by to console me and we realized that we've always loved one another and that we shouldn't let what people's opinions of us keep us from being together. I mean look how it worked for you and the wannabe rent-a-cop security expert"

"Rent a cop? Morelli I think you need to move on before I remove that stupid smirk off your face. Neither Stephanie or I have anything to say to you or Terri." Ranger said as he glared at Joe.

"Terri, can I see your ring?" I asked.

"Sure, isn't it beautiful? It's a one of a kind, Joe got it specially made just for me" Terri said with a huge smile on her face.

"I hate to burst your bubble Terri, but that is the same ring that Morelli proposed to me with. Not only that but when I threw the ring back at him Bob went and swallowed that ring. So it sat in Bob's stomach before the vet had to cut him open to pull it out because Bob couldn't pass it in his stool. Hopefully Morelli used a good disinfectant on it when he cleaned it because I don't remember the diamond having black speckles in it when I was wearing it." I said trying to keep the smirk off my face.

Terri threw a fit of epic proportions and took the ring off her finger and told Joe to shove it up his ass. He went running after her telling her that it was all a misunderstanding and that he loved her and wanted to marry her. The burg was all over this story in 2 minutes, for once there was a story at Pino's that involved me that didn't really portray me in a bad light. All and all it was a good day. Ranger paid the bill and we headed towards Haywood. I was ready to get home and relax for a few hours.

**Next chapter is Ranger's surprise at the penthouse.


	11. Seventh Floor Suprise

Chapter 11

RPOV

We got in the elevator and headed up to the 7th floor. I didn't know quite what to expect, but I did get a text message from Louis saying everything was finished. As we got to the door I could smell the food, I could smell both Italian and Cuban food. I really wish we hadn't of stopped for Pino's but I wasn't going to deny Babe anything. I opened the door and everything was dark. I turned on the lights and I don't think I could have been prepared for the transformation in front of me.

The walls were neutral butter yellow with beautiful brown microfiber furniture that looked like leather until you actually touched it. It was more feminine without being overbearing. All of the tables had been changed out and there were pictures all around the living room. There was even a watercolor of the bed and breakfast we had stayed at, Louis had called me and asked if the place had a website. He must have had someone paint this for us. It was beautiful. The kitchen was left unchanged, but the dining room had a new table. It was black and round with four chairs and a pink plastic high chair in the corner by the bar.

Babe had that cute goldfish look on her face as she explored. The next room was our bedroom. The white comforter had been replaced with a navy blue one. It was a minor change but it change the feel of the room. On the nightstand was a picture from our wedding. I saw the tears in Babe's eyes and decided I should show her the rest of the surprise before she burst into tears. We made our way down a little hallway that housed my office and she saw the hallway went further now and there were three more doors. She opened the first one and it was a bathroom with a clawfoot tub and shower combo. It was done in bright colors and perfect for both of our girls. The next door was done in pinks, purples, and blues the perfect room for a teenage girl. A computer desk had been put in and a laptop set up for when Julie visited. We made our way to the last room and opened the door. I was speechless when I saw the room.

SPOV

The apartment was amazing, the extra rooms were amazing but nothing could have prepared me for the nursery. It was every little girls dream. It was done in purple with butterflies. Soft butterflies flew over the crib on the mobile. Butterflies were on the walls, all soft to the touch with painted lines to show where they had flown. It was amazing. In the corner there was a purple striped chair and ottoman, when I sat down in it, it began to rock. The room was perfect. Ranger told me that our mothers had decorated the room and I completely lost it. I broke down into tears, as I looked around the room I realized that this is the room that our little girl would be in. The room she would dream in, it's the perfect room for her to fly in.

After a few minutes I finally quit crying and Ranger said he was going to go down to the office and check on everything. I decided to get my computer out and see if I could catch Julie on Instant Messenger. Luckily she was online as I signed on.

Jules0801 : Hey Steph! How was the trip?

StephM01: It was good. Glad to be home. You'll never believe what your Dad had done while we were gone.

Jules0801: What?

StephM01: He had the apartment worked on. He had two rooms and a bathroom added

Jules0801: Cool. Now I can sleep in the guest room and not the couch when I come!

StephM01: No Julie. One of the rooms is for you the other one is for your sister when she comes. Your room is decorated just for you with blues, purples, and pinks. I will send a picture to your email.

Jules0801: OMG! I can't believe Dad decorated a room just for me, that's awesome! I can't wait to come see you guys this summer. Have you come up with a name for my sister yet?

StephM01: Yep. Your Dad picked out Adrianna Rosa. Look at the pictures I sent you of her nursery.

Jules0801: I love that room, it's so pretty. That name is pretty, I can't believe Dad thought of it. He's changed so much in the past few months.

StephM01: I know, it's hard to believe. I'm going to let you go I've got to go unpack. Your Dad and I love you sweetie! Bye

Jules0801: I love you guys too! Bye!

I sat there for a few minutes thinking about how much Ranger had changed in the past few months. It was like a night and day difference. He seemed so much happier with life. I can't believe a few short months ago I was thinking about marrying Joe. I would have been miserable. I actually felt a little sorry for Joe thinking about him having to suck up to Terri now. Hopefully it will work out for the best for him. If she decides to take him back hopefully he will take her ring shopping.

**Next chapter will be a suprise baby shower


	12. The Baby Shower

****Sorry for the delay in writing, we own a Laundromat and it's Spring Break, saying it's been crazy is an understatement.**

**Thank you all for your kind words and support**

**-Disclaimer : Not mine, not making any money!**

Chapter 12

RPOV

I've got to keep Steph busy for most of the morning so Ella and Mom can set up the baby shower in the conference room on the 3rd floor. Normally I would offer to take her shopping with a trip to Victoria's Secret but lately she feels like she's too big to wear those types of things so I'm doing something that I thought I would never do. I have scheduled for her to have her hair and makeup done and we are going to have our picture taken together before the baby is born. I hope Mom realizes how much of a sacrifice this is as I do not want my picture to get out in the public. I have run an extensive background check on the company and threatened the owner with a one way trip to Siberia if those pictures ever leak out. Now to go get Babe up and get her out of the building without her asking a million questions. (Like that is going to happen)

"Babe," I said as I leaned down and kissed her, "If you get up now breakfast is ready and I need you to get dressed because I have somewhere I want to take you."

"Do I have to?" she asked as she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"No, but I'd like you to please." I knew I was playing dirty but we had to be on the road in an hour.

"Fine, since you said please breakfast better be good." Babe said as she put on her robe and headed towards the kitchen.

We sat at the breakfast bar for about five minutes while she ate her waffles and fruit. When she finished she turned to me and asked where we were going.

"We're going to do something special, go take a shower and just dress in some sweats and pull your hair back, no makeup needed we need to leave in about 20 minutes. No more questions, just go." I pulled her in for a kiss and sent her on her way.

15 minutes later Steph emerged in a t-shirt, some yoga pants, with her hair pulled back and no makeup. She looked beautiful.

"Batman you better not be taking me out in public like this, no Berg girl in her right mind would go out of the house looking like this pregnant or not. Also, I notice you're not in sweats so that's not fair." I leaned down and kissed Steph silencing her as I lead her to the elevator.

We made our way to the turbo and I helped her in. The whole way to the photographer you could see the gears in Babe's head turning, she was trying to figure out where we were going and what we were doing. It was so cute, but I was not going to give up this surprise. About 30 minutes later we pulled into a place that looked a lot like an old salon, but it had an area in the back to do the photography.

"Come on Batman, tell me what's going on. Where are we?" Babe said.

"We are going to get pictures taken before the baby is born. I want to have pictures of Adrianna's beautiful mother while she was still pregnant and I'm even going to take a few pictures with you so we have some family shots." I said as I helped Babe out of the car. "They are going to do you hair and make up before and I have one more surprise for you inside if you'd come on."  
At this point I was hoping that Lester was parked in the back and had the other surprise ready to go. As we entered the store I saw the surprise just through the other door with Lester leaning up against the door frame smiling.

"Lester is my surprise? I know he's family and I love him but I don't see how this is a surprise, I just saw him last night and he is NOT going to be in these pictures." Babe was rambling on as someone else came from behind Lester.

"Surprise Steph!" Julie yelled.

"Julie! When did you get here?" Steph asked.

"Uncle Lester came and picked me up from the airport this morning, I've been here waiting on you so we could get all dolled up together." She said almost bouncing out of her shoes.

"You brought Julie in for these pictures, that was so thoughtful." Babe said as she kissed my cheek.

"Well it wouldn't be a family photo without all of our family." I said.

"So that means I do get to be in the photo, I want to do on where I'm kissing Steph's stomach." Lester said.

"No, you can go back to Rangeman and make sure everything is running like it's suppose to." I said just shaking my head.

"You're no fun coz." Lester said as he headed out the door.

They spent about an hour doing the girls hair and makeup. When they came out both of them looked beautiful. They each had on white shirts and black dress pants. I had on the same thing. They took about 20 pictures but I think my favorites were the one with Steph and the shirt was unbuttoned and it showed her beautiful stomach, and the other one had to be one that was similar but Julie was kissing her stomach. I'm not one for pictures, but I'm glad to be able to have these memories for years to come. I was also so grateful that Rachel allowed Julie to come up for the weekend. By the time we finished up I brought Steph in a blue sweater to go with the black slacks she had on, knowing that she didn't want to wear the sweats she wore here home. Julie got dressed and we were ready to go.

I got back on the road and let Steph and Julie take the whole way there. When we pulled back into Haywood I lead them to the elevator and they were still talking. I will never understand how they can have so much to talk about even though they talk every other day. I hit 3 on the elevator and neither of them noticed, I didn't even tell Julie about the baby shower because I was afraid it would slip so as far as she knew she was just here for the pictures.

I lead the ladies to the conference room and finally Steph realized we weren't on 5 or 7. I told her to patient and I opened the door to the conference room and everyone yelled "Surprise!"

I had hired contract workers for today, and that is part of the reason we decided not to have the party on 5, as soon as we walked on 5 Steph would have noticed that none of the regular guys were there. None of the team wanted to miss this and it ended up becoming a Jack and Jill baby shower. All of the guys invited their girlfriends or wives and there were about 50 people in here just from Rangeman. Then about 20 of Steph's friends like Connie, Mary Lou, and Lula. Steph looked like she was going to pass out. Quickly Mom and Ms. Plum came and put Steph into the rocking chair in the middle of the room.

Looking around the room we would never need to buy anything for Adrianna. There were packages everywhere. Ella did an outstanding job on the food, I offered to have it catered and she looked at me like I had grown two heads. She said she'd take care of everything and not to worry about it. The only thing she did let me order was a cake from Tasty Pastry and I got them to make it with the same filling that a Bostom Crème donut has. Babe will be in heaven. My sisters all showed up with Mom. I was so surprised by the turn out of people that at first I didn't see Angie Morelli and Grandma Bella sitting in the corner. How the hell did they get in here?

I went up to Babe and whispered in her ear about Angie and Bella being in the corner and she grabbed my hand and headed over there. I'm guessing that no one saw them come in because none of my men would have let them through the door.

"Angie, Bella, what are you guys doing here? I figured this would be the last place on Earth you would want to be." Steph asked.

"Stephanie I just wanted to apologize to you for how Joseph has acted the past two times that he has seen you. I know the full story about how you and Ranger ended up back together and I do not judge you for that as that is pretty close to how Rocco and I ended up together. Only I was dating the other guy, not engaged. I honestly don't believe that you and Joseph would have been happy together, but it's not because I don't like you it is because I believe that the two of you have different outlooks in life. Bella and I wanted to wish you the best and we brought you a motorized swing and I made you a blanket for your little girl. I hope you forgive us for crashing your baby shower but that is the only way I could think to get these things to you and have you listen to me without you running the other way." Angie said with tears in her eyes.

"Angie, how Joe acts is not on you. He is a grown man and makes his own decisions. As weird as this may sounds, I love Joe but I'm not in love with him. I want the best for him. Once he quits sniffing around Terri I honestly believe he will find his soulmate and have some wonderful kids." Steph said as she hugged Angie.

"I'm having a vision," Bella said loudly, "This little girl will have dark brown curly hair, blue eyes, and by the time she is an adult will cause more trouble than her Mother ever did in this town."

"The child is half you Babe, isn't that kind of a given?" I whispered in Steph's ear and she slugged me in the arm.

"I'm going to take Bella home, you guys know that having a vision makes her tired." Angie said as she hugged both Steph and myself and she whispered to Steph "If your daughter has half the beauty of your step daughter you both are going to be in trouble."

The party was pretty uneventful after that. We unwrapped presents and the way it looks we will not have to buy diapers the first year of Adrianna's life. The one thing I really liked is a lot of the guys and both sets of parents bought Julie a big sister gift so she didn't feel left out during all of this. I think she got about half as much as Adrianna. We decided to leave everything in the conference room for now and head up to 7 so Julie could see her room for the first time. While we were taking the pictures Lester brought her bags back to Haywood and Ella unpacked everything for her. It was about 3 when we finished with everything and Mom pulled me to the side and asked if she and Dad could stay and take us to dinner tonight so they could spend some time with Julie. Steph and I decided that would be great and I called to make reservations and Rosinni's. The more Steph and I talked we offered an apartment on the 4th floor for my parents for the weekend so they could spend more time with Julie. I didn't tell them this, but after years of having my family at arms length I really enjoyed having everyone around, we'll see if I feel the same way at the end of the weekend.

**Next Chapter Weekend with Manoso's


	13. Time to show some love

****Not mine, not making any money**

**Chapter 13**

**SPOV**

The man of mysteries was surly full of surprises today, not only did we get some beautiful pictures taken together, Julie was flown in, and he asked his parents to stay the weekend at Haywood in an empty apartment on 4. I was speechless when he told me, but deep down it made me really happy. Over the past few months I see more and more of bad ass Ranger chipping away and I see Carlos coming through. I love the fact that he's making up for lost time with his parents and his daughter and I know that Adrianna is going to be spoiled rotten.

The more I'm around Carlos' parents the more I like them. They are polar opposites of my parents. They are more affectionate and more open with their feelings, and I'm starting to see the same thing in Carlos as time goes on. I think in my 30 some odd years on this earth I've only seen my parents kiss once. I know they love each other, but our family shows love with gifts and desserts. I really want to be the one that breaks that cycle in our family. Even Val makes the girls brownies and cookies every time they get good grades or do well at something.

Even looking at Julie, she is so well adjusted. She is 12 going on 40 and she is more mature that I am at times. After 12 years to be thrown into basically a new family after the whole Scrog mess and take everything in stride like she has is pretty amazing. She and Carlos were not close at all, but to see them now you'd think they have been around each other every day of their lives. The Manoso's have so much love within their family and I just hope that I can get past some of my issues and be more open with my daughter.

**RPOV**

"Steph! Earth to Babe!" I yelled as she stared off into space in the living room.

"Jeez are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Steph asked.

"No, I've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes, we're leaving for dinner in about 20 minutes and I didn't know if you wanted to change or not." I said as I leaned down and kissed her.

"I think I'm good, I'm ready to go when everyone is ready to go. How is Julie liking her new room?"

"She loves it, the only thing she hates is that the laptop is monitored by Rangeman and I can see anything and everything she does, she said I was invading her privacy. When I told her I'd just take the laptop away she changed her tune." I said with a chuckle.

About twenty minutes later Babe and Julie came out of the bedroom. Julie had beautiful curls through out her long black hair and had a really pretty green dress on. Babe had her hair down in long curls as well and had a beautiful green maternity dress on. I was going to be the luckiest guy on the face of the earth with these two beautiful girls on my arms. Looking at Babe and Julie standing there I could only imagine what our daughter was going to look like. Would she have Babe's beautiful blue eyes? Would her hair be curly or straight?

I grabbed both of my girls hands and lead them to the elevator and pressed 4 so we could go pick up Mom and Dad. I knocked on the door and Mom opened the door dressed in a green dress. I starting to think this was planned.

"I asked all the girls to dress in green Carlos" Dad said. Damn now I know why Babe hates the ESP.

Dad reached into his coat pocked and pulled out three little black boxes and handed the first one to Mom.

"Maria, you are the love of my life and I couldn't imagine my life without. I want you to be able to wear my heart everywhere you go. I love you." Dad opened the box and there was a beautiful emerald and diamond heart necklace. Mom's eyes filled with tears as she put it on.

"Thank you sweetheart, I love you!" Mom said as she kissed him.

"Julie, this is from both myself and your Grandma. I never want you to forget how much we love you. This way no matter where you are you have all of our love with you where every you go." Dad opened a box and handed it to Julie, it was a smaller version of Mom's necklace.

"Thank you Grandma, Thank you Grandpa! I love it and I will never take it off." Julie said a I helped her get it on.

"Now Stephanie, this is for you. You have given us one of the greatest gifts that we've ever received, you've given us our son Carlos back. You broke through his walls and brought back our son to us. I look at you and Carlos together and I'm reminded of myself and Maria when we were first married. Both Maria and I do not feel like we have gotten a daughter in law out of this marriage, but a daughter. You are a part of our family, and this necklace represents our love that we have for our beautiful daughter who brought our family back together. We love you." Dad said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

I took Babe's necklace and put it around her neck and kissed the clasp before I lowered her hair. I whispered in her ear how much I loved her and she broke down in tears. She hugged my parents for the longest time and then went and hugged Julie.

After Babe quit crying we headed towards the car for dinner. Words couldn't describe what I felt walking out of that building with my family. All the thought that my parents put into those necklaces and the fact that Dad had one for Mom as well. I now realize how much I've missed these past few years by not letting people into my life, and I owe Babe for showing me how to let people back into my life. I love her so much.

**Next chapter will be dinner, I decided to split it up into two chapters.

Thank you for all your reviews!


	14. Dinner and a story

Chapter 14

RPOV

If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be willingly spending the weekend with my parents, Julie, and my wife I would have called them a liar. I don't know what I did to get so lucky, but despite every bad thing I've seen and done I have parents that love me very much, a daughter that I adore, a beautiful minx of a wife, and another daughter on the way. Dinner was pretty uneventful, and I asked Ella to make a sugar free cake for dessert so we could all go back to the apartment and spend some time together. When we got back there was a chocolate cake, coffee, and a small thing of hot chocolate for Julie. Tia Ella really thought of everything. We all piled into the living room and sat around talking.

"I'm telling you Carlos had this little blue bear rattle that went around his wrist when he was a baby, we called it Boo Boo bear. He dropped it out of the stroller one day when we were walking around the block, his father combed the area for an hour before he found the bear." Momma said with a huge smile on her face.

"Momma! Steph and Julie do not want to hear these stories." I said shaking my head.

"Yes I do Dad, I'm so glad that I wasn't like that!" Julie said with a smirk.

"Really little one? You're more like your Dad than you think. When you were 3 years old I had gone down to Miami to see you and picked you up from daycare. You had this little duck that you too everywhere with you, by the time you outgrew him he had one eye and had his leg sewn back on. You were in carseat in the back of my SUV on the way to the house and rolled down the window and threw your duck out the window and said 'Duck when flyin Daddy go catch him'. We were on a really busy road and I pulled over and called your Uncle Lester, he hadn't moved up here yet. He sat in the car with you for two hours while I searched the side of the road for your duck. When I finally found him you were so happy then handed him right back to me and said that Duck needed a bath. So we gave him a splish splash when we got to the house. I convinced you that the dryer was like a sauna for duck and you let him dry in there while your Uncle Lester and I took you to go get McDonalds."

When I looked over Julie and Steph were both crying. I reached for Julie first and placed a kiss on top of her head and asked her why she was crying.

"I can't believe you did all of that for me. You could have just gone to the store and bought me a new duck and I probably wouldn't have known the difference." She said drying her eyes.

"That was your duck Julie, and I actually have it in my safe in the bedroom. You loved it and I would NEVER replace it. I hope you realize how much I love you kiddo." I kissed her again then reached for Steph.

"Babe why are you crying?"

"There is hope, if you took Julie to McDonald's then maybe you will let me take Adrianna and pollute her temple with happy meals and tastycakes." She said with a smirk.

"I told you one day you'd find the one that would you put you in your place Carlos" Dad said, "We are going to go down to 4 for the night. We'll see you in the morning for breakfast."

"I love you both, goodnight." I said as they left.

****I know it's kind of a short chapter, but I really want to drag out him time with his family before the baby comes. After the next chapter with the Manoso's the baby will arrive.**


	15. How good is good enough?

Chapter 15

RPOV

The last day with my parents we spent at a beach house in Point Pleasant. Julie and I rode all of the rides up and down the boardwalk at least 20 times. Dad and I played games each winning the girls little bears and other stuffed animals. Steph was in heaven with all of the food, she ate to her hearts content. It was such a nice day that I didn't want it to end.

The past weekend I've gotten to know more about my daughter than I have in the past few years. She is so much like me it's scary, I just hope she takes after my good traits and not my bad ones. Steph and Julie are so close, and I'm really surprised that they have kept in such close contact after the whole Scrog incident. Mom and Dad loved spending time with Julie and it really makes me feel guilty for keeping everyone at arms length for all of these years. I don't know what I did to deserve these things in my life, but I am truly blessed.

On Monday morning Mom and Dad got ready to head back to Newark and we got everything packed up so we could take Julie to the airport. I really didn't want my daughter to go, but I knew that she had to. I would really have to talk to Rachel about letting her visit more often. After promises of more emails, phone calls, and face time on Skype Julie boarded the plane for Miami. Before the cabin doors closed I already missed her. As we were walking out of the airport my phone buzzed and I checked it.

**I miss you Dad love you**

I replied that I missed her too and loved her as well. Steph and I got to the car and drove back to Trenton. I was in my zone and Babe drifted off to sleep. When we got back to Haywood I picked her up out of the car and carried her up to bed. I called Ella and asked her for dinner around 6 and went to my office to take care of some paperwork. As much as I tried I couldn't focus so I called Lester into my office.

"What's up?" Lester said as he sat down on the couch in the office.

"I'm really worried about having another child. I've done so many bad things in this world, what if I fuck up again? Didn't I do enough damage to Julie all these years?" I said as I rubbed my hands over my face.

"You did what you felt was right for Julie, you couldn't be there for her full time so you let Ron adopt her. She knows you and loves you unconditionally. She doesn't hold that against you, so you shouldn't either. That girl has the best of everything because of you. Plus you're back in her life now that should count for something." Lester said.

"Yeah but I should have tried harder to be a part of her life, I missed so much and damn I'm still not done with my government contract what if something happens to me and I leave Stephanie and Adrianna here alone?" I said as tears formed in my eyes.

"You are the best of the best Ranger. I understand as much as the next person about not wanting to do a committed relationship because of the government contracts, but honestly I'm about to the point that I want to settle down and have a family even though my contract is not up. You're just scare because you finally have it all and you're afraid you'll lose it. Well think of it this way, its better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Lester said and came around the desk and hugged me, "I know neither of us are good with our feelings but I love you man. You're my blood and I'll do anything to protect you, Steph, and my nieces." With that he left my office.

Maybe everything could be okay. I shot off a quick email to the core team telling them I'd be offline till morning and called Julie to make sure she got home okay the went to go have dinner with my beautiful wife.

**Next chapter is the birth


	16. Contentment

Chapter 16

RPOV

With two days until Babe's due date saying things have gotten crazy around here is an understatement. All of the guys are excited about the newest arrival at Rangeman. I think Lester is the most excited, I've caught him upstairs more than once talking to Steph's stomach telling Adrianna that it was time to come out. Poor Steph is just miserable, her movement is limited even though she needs to pee every 10 minutes. You can tell that she is ready, and I think she's gotten past most of her fears. I wish the same could be said about me. I'm excited about having another daughter, but I'm scared half to death. Even though I have Julie, a lot of this baby's first will be firsts for me as well.

Julie is coming up as soon as the baby is born, she is so excited and I'm excited about getting to spend more time with her. Rachel and I have talked more in the past couple of months and since my life is becoming steadier she is willing to let me spend a lot more time with Julie. I plan on taking Stephanie and Adrianna down to Miami more as well, maybe some during the holidays so Julie and I can spend more time together.

Right now I have snuck down to my office while Babe is taking a nap. She is really starting to get grouchy and I need a little break. She was complaining so much last night I told her if she was going to keep it up I was going to hide all of her Tasty Cakes from her. She calmed down after that, but every time I turned and looked at her she glared at me.

"It's time!" I heard someone yell over the intercom, I jumped up when I realized it was Steph's voice coming from upstairs. I stuck my head in Tank's office and told him to go get the SUV ready downstairs and I'd meet him down there with Babe.

When I got to the elevator Babe was already in there coming down to the 5th floor with her overnight bag in hand.

"You left me!" Steph said as she handed me the bag.

"I came downstairs for an hour to do some work, you were asleep." I said, secretly happy that her moodiness will be coming to an end shortly.

"Let's get this show on the road people, I'm ready to have this baby." Steph said as we exited the elevator and headed towards the SUV, I noticed that Lester was riding shotgun so I got into the back with Steph.

We made it to the hospital and got Steph situated in the maternity ward. Within two hours she was ready to bring Adrianna into this world. She kept the insults down to a minimum, only threatening to kill me or maim me 5 times. Considering the pain she was in, I think 5 times was pretty good. After another hour of pushing Adrianna made her way into this world, and it was love at first sight for both of us.

I walked out into the waiting room where all of our family was sitting and announced, "Adrianna Rosa Manoso 6lbs, 5oz, 23 inches. She had blue eyes, beautiful curly brown hair, and lungs like her Momma. She came into this world screaming just like her Stephanie."

Everyone came through and congratulated me, telling me how happy they were. I called Julie and told her the good news and she said she couldn't wait to come up and see us in a couple of days. I walked back into the room and saw Steph holding Adrianna, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I walked over and kissed Steph on the head and kissed Adrianna's little cheek. Life was perfect, I couldn't ask for anything else.

To think that after all of these years Abulea Rosa's preaching about taking a chance in finding my happiness would result in this. That woman was wise beyond her years. If my daughter becomes half the woman my Abulea was my life will be complete.

****I hope you guys enjoyed this story. It showed a little softer insight to Ranger's character and I believe that with Stephanie that is a possibility. Check out my new story – In an alternative universe…Stephanie is married to Morelli when she meets Ranger. How would it play out if that was how the story had started?**

**Thank you for all your support, reviews, and messages. You guys rock!**


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